Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov blamed Western support for Ukraine as the cause of terrorist attacks inside Russia. The diplomat directed his ire at the UK, noting the US may play a smaller role.
Speaking at an event in Moscow on Monday, Lavrov warned of a “rise in the level of terrorist threat” in Russia, claiming Ukraine had carried out several such attacks with British and American help.
“It is obvious that everything is being done by the Ukrainian side, but it would be helpless without the support of the British,” he said, as cited by TASS. “Although who knows, maybe the US special services are also involved there by inertia, but the British are there 100%.”
The foreign minister went on to argue that Kiev had used “terrorist methods” during its assault on Russia’s Kursk region last year, saying “we all saw what the Ukrainian Nazis did there, there is not a single object there that could be presented to the viewer as an object related to the conduct of hostilities.” He added that this would not have been possible without Western support.
Kiev has conducted a number of operations inside Russia in recent days, including the shelling of border villages, attacks on railways and bridges, and drone strikes on multiple airbases that house Moscow’s strategic bombers. Russia has condemned those attacks as “terrorism” and launched massive missile and drone strikes on Ukraine in response.
Despite Kiev’s continued incursions into Russian territory, Lavrov said Moscow’s relationship with Washington is “in a better position” now under President Donald Trump than it was during the Biden administration.
The relationship between Putin and Trump is “working,” he added. “They don’t need any preludes, prefaces: During their regular telephone contacts, they immediately get to the point. And it seems to me that this is the way to work. It is better to always state your position directly, then there will be no illusions and unfulfilled hopes.”
Trump has held a number of calls with Putin since returning to office, including after Ukraine’s June 1 drone attack that destroyed some of Russia’s nuclear bombers. Following the Russian invasion in 2022, the Biden administration cut most contact with the Kremlin.
Lavrov noted that the improved relationship has not led to any progress on reestablishing arms control agreement between the US and Russia, however.
Trump pledged to end the war in Ukraine on his first day in office, but appears increasingly frustrated with both sides’ unwillingness to compromise.
Speaking last week about ongoing negotiations between Moscow and Kiev, Trump said, “Sometimes you see two young children fighting like crazy. They hate each other, and they’re fighting in a park, and you try and pull them apart. They don’t want to be pulled. Sometimes you’re better off letting them fight for a while and then pulling them apart.”
